It's been a few years since I subscribed to The New Yorker for good reason, but it's still worthwhile to actually see how truly ridiculous it has become based on the mentality of the writers they hire...even if those Tweets were written in 2014 and 2015. Same for the old Tweets of NPR CEO Katherine Maher. All of it is worth knowing.
We pay double to get physical copies of the New Yorker delivered to our home in Switzerland. I still enjoy the magazine, but I have been disheartened by the gratuitous meanness in a couple of recent issues.
For example, one article spent a paragraph ridiculing the hair and makeup of MAGA women—and the article otherwise had nothing to do with hair and makeup. Another article, about lunch, spent its first half rapturously praising a woman for her imaginative, luxurious lunches. Then it complained that Donald Trump doesn’t eat lunch but instead eats enormous fast-food dinners, when Americans are going hungry. (The author didn’t bring up the hungry Americans when praising the lunches of the woman in the first part of the article.)
I am a left-leaning Democrat who voted for Bernie Sanders in two presidential primaries. And even I am put off by these little digs. I think they are unbecoming, ineffective, and beneath the New Yorker.
"The Christopher Rufos of the world entertain fantasies that the David Remnicks of the world will learn of tweets like St. Félix’s, recoil in shame for insufficiently vetting their staff, and make the necessary firings, possibly relieving themselves of their own responsibilities in the process. But what Rufo and his acolytes do not understand is that St. Félix doesn’t work at The New Yorker in spite of such tweets. She works there because of them."
Rufo understands this dynamic to the nth degree. He knows that she is not going to be fired and that she is there because of tweets like which in essence are expiatory to the New Yorker's collective white sins.
So, Why do it? Because it so clearly shows the endless beat/fuck me dynamics of left wing prestige publications and it is funny and I think he and his staff have a great time doing it.
Hey Meghan, big fan and this headline definitely grabbed me. However, since I'm nosy and wanted to know which writer you were profiled with, I did some digging, and it looks like the interview you're referring to was published in 2010 (and the question you two answered was slightly different from your paraphrasing). Also looks like "Bad Feminist" came out in the summer of 2014.
Thanks, as always, for the thought-provoking article!
Yes, I know, and I think "previous summer" instead of "past summer" was confusing. As for that interview, I realized my error as soon as I hit publish and fixed it right away. Memory plays tricks! Thanks for being a fan. (Also, this is why we need editors.)
I don't think Rufo cares if the New Yorker fires her. Regardless of what they do, he has successfully embarrassed them. Maybe I am naive, but I wonder if St. felix is also embarrassed by her earlier comments. They don't seem as hip and radical as they might have in 2016. I guess the new article suggests a lack of learning ...
It's been a few years since I subscribed to The New Yorker for good reason, but it's still worthwhile to actually see how truly ridiculous it has become based on the mentality of the writers they hire...even if those Tweets were written in 2014 and 2015. Same for the old Tweets of NPR CEO Katherine Maher. All of it is worth knowing.
That concluding sentence is killer.
We pay double to get physical copies of the New Yorker delivered to our home in Switzerland. I still enjoy the magazine, but I have been disheartened by the gratuitous meanness in a couple of recent issues.
For example, one article spent a paragraph ridiculing the hair and makeup of MAGA women—and the article otherwise had nothing to do with hair and makeup. Another article, about lunch, spent its first half rapturously praising a woman for her imaginative, luxurious lunches. Then it complained that Donald Trump doesn’t eat lunch but instead eats enormous fast-food dinners, when Americans are going hungry. (The author didn’t bring up the hungry Americans when praising the lunches of the woman in the first part of the article.)
I am a left-leaning Democrat who voted for Bernie Sanders in two presidential primaries. And even I am put off by these little digs. I think they are unbecoming, ineffective, and beneath the New Yorker.
Hi Meghan, you wrote:
"The Christopher Rufos of the world entertain fantasies that the David Remnicks of the world will learn of tweets like St. Félix’s, recoil in shame for insufficiently vetting their staff, and make the necessary firings, possibly relieving themselves of their own responsibilities in the process. But what Rufo and his acolytes do not understand is that St. Félix doesn’t work at The New Yorker in spite of such tweets. She works there because of them."
Rufo understands this dynamic to the nth degree. He knows that she is not going to be fired and that she is there because of tweets like which in essence are expiatory to the New Yorker's collective white sins.
So, Why do it? Because it so clearly shows the endless beat/fuck me dynamics of left wing prestige publications and it is funny and I think he and his staff have a great time doing it.
Great use of time!
Another perpective from Wesley Yang:
https://x.com/wesyang/status/1957124266563899821
Yes, Meghan. Spot on.
Hey Meghan, big fan and this headline definitely grabbed me. However, since I'm nosy and wanted to know which writer you were profiled with, I did some digging, and it looks like the interview you're referring to was published in 2010 (and the question you two answered was slightly different from your paraphrasing). Also looks like "Bad Feminist" came out in the summer of 2014.
Thanks, as always, for the thought-provoking article!
Yes, I know, and I think "previous summer" instead of "past summer" was confusing. As for that interview, I realized my error as soon as I hit publish and fixed it right away. Memory plays tricks! Thanks for being a fan. (Also, this is why we need editors.)
I don't think Rufo cares if the New Yorker fires her. Regardless of what they do, he has successfully embarrassed them. Maybe I am naive, but I wonder if St. felix is also embarrassed by her earlier comments. They don't seem as hip and radical as they might have in 2016. I guess the new article suggests a lack of learning ...
I couldn’t care less about culture wars all I care about is Megan Daum winning them 😁